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ARCHIVE

5th(2003)



Blessed

Rachel Douglas

  • New Zealand
  • 2002
  • 77min
  • Beta
  • color

SYNOPSIS

Nadine, a wife and mother, works part time as an escort to supplement the income of her electrician husband. Nadine¡¯s naivete and somewhat gallant belief that she can support her family in such a manner and remain unscathed is cruelly tested by a call out with an out of town cinematographer. Josephine, a photography student new to the game, is intrigued by the ¡®seen it all¡¯ working girl Victoria.
 Christie, a television actress with a restless boyfriend, is cast as a prostitute, and is put through her paces onset by Nadine¡¯s cinematographer client. Brian Sergent plays the owner of the brothel, brutally businesslike and itching to get over to the rural Wairarapa for a spot of duck shooting.
 This film employs a deus ex machina to unite its world-weary and self preoccupied characters in the authors embrace. While they ride the lonely streets, a flying woman with a beatific gaze swoops through the skies, witnessing their travails. Bearing an ineffable vision of human happiness that no human on screen can entirely apprehend, she is likely to be the device by which this film is remembered. (Production Notes)
 
 ¡°With Blessed I made the very best film I could with what I had on hand. I ignored classical types of storytelling, reaching for a more subtle and ambiguous method that demands my audience to think. I know that the film now needs to stand up on its own feet, what we did to achieve it and my intentions become irrelevant. What becomes relevant is the story. Right now, I believe I have a story worth telling.¡± - Director¡¯s statements
 

PROGRAM NOTE

Nadine, a wife and mother, works part time as an escort to supplement the income of her electrician husband. Nadine¡¯s naivete and somewhat gallant belief that she can support her family in such a manner and remain unscathed is cruelly tested by a call out with an out of town cinematographer. Josephine, a photography student new to the game, is intrigued by the ¡®seen it all¡¯ working girl Victoria.
 Christie, a television actress with a restless boyfriend, is cast as a prostitute, and is put through her paces onset by Nadine¡¯s cinematographer client. Brian Sergent plays the owner of the brothel, brutally businesslike and itching to get over to the rural Wairarapa for a spot of duck shooting.
 This film employs a deus ex machina to unite its world-weary and self preoccupied characters in the authors embrace. While they ride the lonely streets, a flying woman with a beatific gaze swoops through the skies, witnessing their travails. Bearing an ineffable vision of human happiness that no human on screen can entirely apprehend, she is likely to be the device by which this film is remembered. (Production Notes)
 
 ¡°With Blessed I made the very best film I could with what I had on hand. I ignored classical types of storytelling, reaching for a more subtle and ambiguous method that demands my audience to think. I know that the film now needs to stand up on its own feet, what we did to achieve it and my intentions become irrelevant. What becomes relevant is the story. Right now, I believe I have a story worth telling.¡± - Director¡¯s statements
 

Director

  • Rachel DouglasRachel Douglas

    Born in 1969 in New Zealand, Rachael Douglas received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Victoria University of Wellington. While studying she freelanced as a camera assistant in the New Zealand film industry, and left camera work in 2000 to work as a receptionist at a massage parlour, where she produced and shot her debut feature Blessed. Her shorts include Devotion(documentary), Purge, and Para Recordar, which were screened at numerous festivals.

Credit

  • ProducerRachel Douglas
  • Cast Genevieve McClean, Hera Dunleavey, Jane Donald
  • Screenwriter Rachel Douglas
  • Cinematography Max Bourke
  • Editor Bridget Lyon
  • Music Simon Rycroft